Trip Report - Las Vegas pops our collective cherry!

About us: a coupla Las Vegas virgins. Not much in to gambling but will have a “flutter” (heck, it’s VEGAS BABY!). Truth be told we don%26#39;t gamble because we suck at it...if we were winners we%26#39;d be addicted! Here in the main to see the sights, bright lights and debauchery... and with a little bit of culture thrown in for good measure.

Will post as reply.

Trip Report - Las Vegas pops our collective cherry!

';debauchery... and with a little bit of culture thrown in for good measure.';

Doesn%26#39;t debauchery = culture?

Haha.

Trip Report - Las Vegas pops our collective cherry!

Wow nice title.. caught my eye!

LOl, this should be good.......!

bring on the report!

So, we flew in for our first visit on JetBlue, leaving frosty New York City behind us (*ahem* frosty in temperature as much as %26#39;tude). At time of booking the tix we plumped for Even More Legroom seats (I think they were maybe $20 extra each…something like that). Personally, I’d rather recline over legroom but the OH is some way over 6 feet tall and a little on the pudgy side so EML it is! We were quite happy with JetBlue. Had a particularly excellent FA (hi Caroline! ~waves~ ) looking after us who was very generous with drinks and snacks. I had somewhere in the vicinity of 4 packets of animal crackers but they’re low in fat so, eh, who cares? They hardly even count as calories as far as I am concerned…

Flying over the Grand Canyon – weeeeeeeeeee - what a treat that was! We had intended to take a fixed wing flight and spend a day out there during our stay in LV. Ah, that was until our dollar decided to cark it. Never mind. I was pretty happy with what could see peeking out of that tiny little window. Lucky for me our fellow aisle mate on the window had been to Vegas many times and had no interest in admiring the view, what’s more he didn’t seem to mind me leaning over him so that I could (I%26#39;m sure it wasn%26#39;t going to be the last female-in-his-lap episode ifor this man during his Vegas shenanigans)! Flying over just on dusk, it certainly was a beautiful sight to behold. I got a similar “butterflies in the stomach” feeling coming in to McCarran a short while later. We went right along the Strip – Stratosphere to our right, almost within hands reach - and for a first timer this was a real buzz! The opening credits to CSI now have meaning.

Warning: RANT. We had reserved a car through Budget so took the shuttle to the car rental centre (quick %26amp; easy- what’s not to love?). After completing all the necessary paperwork and handing over our 3 forms of I.D Mr.Budget gave us our keys and said, “it’s a silver car”. Now, if someone at home had said this to me I would have asked what kind of car, specifically, I was going to be looking for in the lot. Last time I looked “silver” was not a car make and model. I know this. I am not an idiot! And in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘ask him what kind of car it is’…but I didn’t. STUPID mistake #1! Naturally we got to the car and it was apparent by the dinky little $hitkicker sitting there in front of us that it was an economy rather than a compact. Parked next to it however were 2 compact class cars so we thought, well, perhaps he had made an honest mistake? Accordingly, I sent the OH off down to have a quiet word and get it sorted while I stand there by my lonesome minding the luggage. Shortly afterward a lone woman comes to collect one of the compacts. Then a couple come to do the same thing. ‘Oh no they’re taking my car’ I think to myself! I consider jumping on the hood to prevent them driving away but instead ask them what category vehicle they had booked. They tell me they booked an economy but were upgraded to a compact at the desk 5 minutes ago. Hmmmm. Meanwhile we got downgraded but were being charged for a compact! Pffft! Long story short, after about 40 minutes Budget agree to give us a compact as per our rental agreement. To further rub salt in the wounds they bring out a filthy stinking heap of junk Dodge Caliber! Clearly these guys know how best to insult a couple of car aficionados. One was almost tempted to yell ‘bring back the Aveooooooooo!” Anyhoo, after asking them to wash the vehicle so that we could at least see out of the windshield - they were so happy to oblige we could hardly discern any hint of annoyance in their voices - at last we were off…about 60 minutes later than anticipated, hungry %26amp; annoyed! /RANT over.

So by this stage we were well and truly ravenous (FYI animal crackers aren’t much of a meal). It was well after 8pm now and so we decided to drop the bags at the hotel and quickly get a bite to eat before both of us keeled over. Here’s where we got lucky. Booking so far in advance allowed us to get a truly amazing rate at THEhotel. In fact, it was close to the cheapest place we stayed while in the US! Score! *insert happy dance*

Well, what can one say about the scale and magnitude of THEhotel? First of all: where the bloody hell is the front door!? Granted, this problem might well and truly be of our own doing…we saw the signs for the valet drop-off but – doh! – it never occurred to us to *that* was the front entrance. STUPID mistake #2. We parked our cr@ppy Caliber and headed for the elevators. Starving hungry - and needing to use the bathroom by now - there was nothing else I wanted more in life than to wander aimlessly around Mandalay Bay lugging 40lbs of luggage and a bulging bladder. With that in mind I took the scenic route right along the perimeter of the gaming area. Obviously. Just when I was about to give up and fall , crying, in a heap on the carpet, there in front of me was a tiny little sign leading the way the THEhotel! Eureka! Check-in took a little longer than expected but gave us the chance to witness our second Las Vegas tantrum (the first being mine when I realised we’d been given a Dodge Caliber). A couple of gents in front of us were having some issues with their booking, resulting in one stomping off in a huff: “Let’s GO!!!” he was yelling back to his friend who was completely ignoring him. One thing we noticed immediately upon entering THEhotel was the faint smell of coconut oil wafting all over the place; quite pleasant. It reminded me of a time, back in the day, when I used to sunbathe without worrying about wrinkles and dying from skin cancer. Aaah, memories.

Getting to the room was quite an excursion. Literally. It’s a long walk just to get to the elevator. Zooming skyward in the elevator to the 34th floor, I tried my best to explain to the OH about the so-called missing floors (what the girl at the front desk helpfully called “a stupid Asian thing” lol I assume she meant Feng Shui). He really did think there were MISSING FLOORS. Uh, no. So anyway, we got a V-Suite on the 34th floor - you gotta love a hotel suite that has 2 toilets and 3 TVs! It felt like a slightly swankier wallpapered version of home. My only criticism was that the overhead halogen lighting in the shower kinda accentuates all the dodgy parts of your anatomy you don’t normally spend a whole lot of time looking at – until they’re illuminated so much that you can’t NOT look at them! I really liked the provided soap and, OK I’ll admit it, more than a few of those babies came home with me (along with one of THEhotel’s swish silver pens). TV reception on the 2 whopping big 42” TVs located in the boudoir and lounge was not good…however since we spent a grand total of probably 2 hours watching it over the duration of our stay it didn’t really matter. The TV in the bathroom seemed to have better reception – go figure! Otherwise it was a thoroughly enjoyable stay. I’d go back just for the extra toilet!

By this stage of the night, and clearly feeling the effects of food deprivation, we probably would’ve eaten road-kill. But first we had to navigate our way out to the Strip. That meant finding the front door. Now, no more than 15 minutes earlier we’d walked right by it, but for a Vegas virgin that meant squat! I was trying my very best to get my bearings but all those flashy lights, smoke haze and the “Ding! Ding! Ding!” of the slots weren’t helping. I was fading, fast. Normally I’m the talker (no, really) but on this occasion OH took the initiative and politely asked a woman he spotted sitting at one on the slot machines how to get out. She uttered not a single word, and never looked at us but she did point us in the right direction! Thanks to you weird mute lady! (I have to say if it’s one thing this US holiday has taught me it’s how to get what you want without using too many words. I realised I’m just too wordy in my day-to-day dealings so I have since made a concerted effort to talk less but make better sense. Except when it comes to Trip Reports as you will have noticed!). In sheer desperation by this stage we crossed over to McDonald’s and had something that, for now, was going to have to pass for dinner….

Nice start! :)

Yea.. I had a Dodge Caliber in December. it was a POS!! Lol but it did get me from A-B, though.

I love it! Can%26#39;t wait for the next update!

this is going to be a good TR....

';sights, bright lights and debauchery'; - love it!

Adelaide

I had a really bad day at work today and after reading your post my day did not seem so bad. I%26#39;m still smiling and can%26#39;t wait to hear the rest of your tale.

OH yes.. more...

Yay! I was wondering when you were going to get to the Las Vegas part of your trip! Good start so far - just waiting for the rest.

I dont think we will be taking the Grand Canyon tour either when we go to Vegas because of the cr*ppy Aussie dollar at the moment so I%26#39;m looking forward to reading about the sights, lights and debauchery!